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Officials seek development ‘clarity’

In the coming weeks, Spring Hill officials will be seeking volunteers from the public, private and government sectors to aid in an overhaul of the rules governing the development of city subdivisions.

Codes Director Chris Brooks told members of the planning commission at a work session Monday that he was prompted to revamp the city’s subdivision regulations after a developer requested the city take control of right-of-ways in the Autumn Ridge subdivision. The developer wanted Spring Hill to take ownership before the project was completed, Brooks said.

Brooks said Tuesday that under the city’s current regulation a development’s bond can be released prior to the completion of public improvements by approving a “certificate of satisfactory completion.”

“We’ve known there are a lot of issues with the subdivision regulations, especially the bond process,” Brooks told the commission. “We’re going to have to put that in black and white, because right now it’s an unknown.”

The planning commission’s alderman representative, Ward 2 Alderman Jonathan Duda, said he does not support regulations that leave the city holding the bill for incomplete public improvement projects.

While the city is protected from costs of maintaining streets and sidewalks by maintenance bonds, he said there is no requirement currently in place that would force a developer to complete public improvements. The one safeguard is the certificate, and he said the current regulations don’t require full completion for a certificate to be issued by the city.

Brooks pointed to several lots in the Wyndgate subdivision which are missing sidewalks while lots still stand vacant. Clear regulations would ensure that such lots could eventually have the sidewalks required when a structure was constructed on the lots, but not on the city’s dime, he said.

“Probably the biggest obstacle that we have is clarity,” Brooks said. “The lots are vacant. The sidewalks are public infrastructure. The point of contention — what if these lots sit vacant for years? We need to spell out the process for a bond and how it is to be calculated all the way through until the city accepts that development as infrastructure.”

District Planner Amanda Rhinehart said during the next few months, she will be working with city staff and anyone else willing to be involved in the process of rewriting the city’s subdivision rules. She said current rules often overlap or completely diverge. A complete overhaul is needed to provide that point of clarity, she said.

“Even though it’s in black and white, the interpretation can vary,” she said. “I know that the intent of this board is to have consistency, conformity and equality for all the people who come before us for business. (Brooks) and I are working very diligently to get a concisely written document that is easy to read — that anybody can come in off the street and pick up and go ‘OK, I understand this.’”

City engineer Jerome Dempsey recommended the city incorporate as many representatives as possible in the process, then revise the regulations line-by-line. Revised regulations would then need to be approved by both the planning commission and the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

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At its 5:30 p.m. meeting on Monday, the planning commission will consider:

— a final plat which creates a commercial building lot for property owned by Millard F. Mitchum Jr. on Wall Street;

— a final plat for the medical campus of Campbell Station, which relocates the common line between two lots;

— a sketch plan for a Murphy Express planned for Belshire Village. City staff requested the developer bring proposed signs into compliance with city ordinances and consult with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation over its potential impact on a nearby stream;

— a site plan for a Waffle House being proposed on Wall Street;

— a final plat for Benevento East phase 2;

— a preliminary plat for Copperstone phases 5 and 7. Duda requested the developer extend a buffer between the proposed subdivision and other developments nearby;

— a master development plan and sketch plan for Wellspring Christian Church on Duplex Road. Pastor Andy Hudelson said he will be reaching out to neighbors about the project to alleviate concerns about appearances and traffic;

— a site plan for the retrofit of Sonic on Main Street. The Board of Zoning Appeals approved the project after considering concerns over off-site parking.

If approved by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, the Planning Commission will begin holding its regular work session at 5:30 p.m. on the fourth Monday of each month, beginning Oct. 22. The work sessions will continue to take place at Spring Hill City Hall.

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